Tallinvale is surrounded.And there's no way out...Lord Tallin's plan has worked. He has drawn a massive army to Tallinvale and it now surrounds his city. The enemy prepares to deliver a devastating blow. The people of Tallinvale must hold out, and Lord Tallin must permit them to suffer until the time is right to unleash his secret weapon. It is a colossal gamble, meant to buy Robby the time he needs. But the Redvest enemy has a secret weapon of its own.Robby, meanwhile, struggles onward to Griferis. But he discovers that he is not the only dreamwalker looking in on his people back in Janhaven. Another dreamwalker, working as a spy for the Redvests, seeks to trick Mirabella into revealing the fighting strength of her people. With that information, the Redvests of Passdale will move to outflank and capture Janhaven once and for all. Unless Robby can stop him.Little does he suspect the price that will be paid for trying.Griferis looms ahead, on the other side of Shatuum. Robby's escorts risk everything to get him there. And Griferis, awful and wondrous, awaits.Robby has no inkling of the terrible price that it, too, will exact.